Report Questions Nebraska Education Funding

A new report says Nebraska's K-12 public schools rely more heavily on local taxes for funding than any other state in the nation. The report released Monday by the OpenSky Policy Institute notes that more than 55 percent of school funding came from local sources in the last school year, while nearly 37 percent came from the state. The rest came from federal sources. Renee Fry, the group's executive director, says most of the local funding comes from property taxes, which has created a divide between land-rich rural districts and urban districts which have more students. The report does not make specific recommendations, but could factor into debates next year among lawmakers who are looking at changes to the state's school funding formula.